Saudi Arabia oil minister Ali al-Nuaimi said Saturday that OPEC wanted the price of oil to be $25 a barrel, avoiding brutal swings either up or down.

"We (OPEC) want it to be at $25, rather than $30 or $38," he said at a seminar at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Crude oil prices are currently around $25 or $26 a barrel.

"Our revenues come from oil and we need to make an accurate assumption of what the oil price will be," he said.

"I am sure that if the oil price should go up or down in a precipitous manner we will work together for a stable oil market," he added.

Al-Naimi said that the recent decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut oil production was taken to prevent a freefall in price and "keep it towards the $25 per-barrel target."

Saudi Arabia, the most powerful member of OPEC, plans a production cutback of around 1.5 million barrels a day, effective from February 1.—AFP.